If your passport application is rejected, you do not get a refund of the application fee or the execution fee. Those are non-refundable the moment you submit your paperwork, no matter how the State Department decides. The only passport fee you can recover is the $60 expedited processing charge, and only when the agency failed to process your application within its expedited timeline.
Which Fees You Lose
A first-time adult applying in person for a passport book pays $130 to the U.S. Department of State as an application fee, plus $35 to the acceptance facility (typically a post office or county clerk) as an execution fee for verifying identity and administering the oath. Optional charges include $60 for expedited processing and $22.05 for 1–3 day delivery of the finished book.1U.S. Department of State. Passport Fees
Federal regulation is blunt about the application fee: it is non-refundable once submitted, whether or not a passport is ultimately issued. The fee pays for the government’s work reviewing your application, not for the passport itself.2eCFR. 22 CFR 51.51 – Passport Fees The execution fee is treated the same way. Once the acceptance agent has checked your documents, watched you sign, and administered the oath, that service is complete regardless of what happens with the application.3eCFR. 22 CFR Part 51 Subpart D – Fees
In practical terms, a rejected first-time adult book applicant loses at least $165. If you also paid for expedited service and 1–3 day delivery, you could be out $247.05.
The Only Refundable Fee
The $60 expedited processing fee is the single passport fee eligible for a refund, and the condition is narrow. You can request the $60 back only when the State Department took longer than 15 business days to process your expedited application.4U.S. Department of State. Request a Refund of the Passport Expedited Service Fee The regulation behind this, 22 CFR 51.53, requires the Department to refund the expedited fee when it fails to deliver the faster processing it charged for.5eCFR. 22 CFR 51.53 – Refunds
This refund has nothing to do with approval or denial. If the agency processed your expedited application inside the 15-business-day window but rejected it, you don’t get the $60 back. Conversely, if it processed slowly, you can claim the refund even on a successful application.
How to Request the Expedited Refund
The State Department takes expedited refund requests through an online form. You’ll need your first and last name, email, phone number, mailing address, and your nine-digit application number, along with a short explanation of why you believe you’re owed the refund.6U.S. Department of State. Expedite Refund Request Form
Processing can take several weeks. Filing duplicate requests tends to slow things down rather than speed them up, so submit once and wait.
What to Do After a Rejection
Since the money is gone, the useful question is whether you can save the application itself. When the Department rejects your application, you’ll get a letter or email explaining the reason. What you do next depends on which kind of rejection it is.
Correctable Paperwork Problems
If the problem is fixable—a missing document, a photo that doesn’t meet the specs, an incomplete form—you have 90 days from the notice to respond with the correction. During that window you don’t pay new application or execution fees.7U.S. Department of State. Respond to a Passport Letter or Email Follow the instructions in the letter exactly. Miss the 90 days and the application closes; you start over and pay again.
Legal Blocks
Some denials can’t be cured with better paperwork. Passports are denied for past-due child support of $2,500 or more,8The Administration for Children and Families. Passport Denial Program 101 seriously delinquent federal tax debt (more than $66,000 in 2026),9Internal Revenue Service. Revocation or Denial of Passport in Cases of Certain Unpaid Taxes certain drug trafficking convictions,10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 22 USC 2714 – Denial of Passports to Certain Convicted Drug Traffickers and outstanding federal felony warrants.11eCFR. 22 CFR 51.60 – Denial and Restriction of Passports The underlying issue has to be resolved first. For tax debt, the IRS gives you 90 days from the denial letter to set up a satisfactory payment arrangement; once you do, the IRS will reverse the certification and notify the State Department. For child support, the rejection notice will identify a contact at your state child support agency.
Requesting a Formal Hearing
If you believe the denial itself was wrong, you can request a formal hearing. The written request must reach the Department of State within 60 days of your denial notice. Miss that deadline and the denial becomes final, with no further review. The Department aims to hold the hearing within 90 days of receiving the request, with one continuance of up to 90 additional days available. Hearings are held in Washington, D.C., or at a U.S. embassy or consulate if you’re abroad, and you can appear personally or through an attorney. Failing to appear counts as abandoning the request. The burden is on you to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the denial was improper.12eCFR. 22 CFR Part 51 Subpart F – Procedures for Review of Certain Denials and Revocations This is a real legal proceeding, and getting an attorney’s input before filing is worth considering.
Because the fees never come back, the cheapest passport is the one approved on the first try. If any of the legal blocks above apply to you, resolving them before you apply keeps you from paying twice.